Abstract
Improvements in the membrane separation of whey and subsequent spray drying for the recovery of Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) have been investigated in the present work. Initially, ultrasonic pretreatment of whey was performed to reduce the microbial contamination and possibly improve the membrane separation based on inducing changes in the whey proteins. Studies involving the effect of important parameters in the membrane operation such as transmembrane pressure (TMP), type of membrane and molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) on permeate flux established that 10 kDa hydrosart membrane gives maximum permeate flux with minimum fouling at an optimum TMP of 1.2 bar. Studies with ultrasound assisted ultrafiltration established that the fouling was reduced with ultrasound also giving higher permeate flux. Effect of spray drying parameters such as air pressure, aspirator rate (rpm), feed flow rate and dilution on the WPC yield, analysed using SDS-PAGE and Kjeldahl method, has also been investigated. Additionally, the use of ultrasonic nozzle in the spray drying was investigated and the results were compared with pneumatic nozzle. Overall, it was clearly established that pretreatment, membrane characteristics, ultrafiltration operating parameters and spray drying parameters play an important role in deciding the WPC recovery from whey. Significant process intensification benefits were demonstrated to be obtained with the use of ultrasound both in membrane separation and spray drying.
Published Version
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